[img]2701|right|Alex Johnson||no_popup[/img]After a 70-day runoff election campaign that was spectacularly more fun and several wash cloths dirtier than the original campaign, voters in the Crenshaw District and the rest of South Los Angeles will decide today whether young Alex Johnson or elder statesman George McKenna deserves the LAUSD School Board seat of the late Marguerite LaMotte.
For all of the slippery confetti that has been pitched by both sides, neither Mr. McKenna, the 73-year-old putative favorite, nor Mr. Johnson, 33, who owns much shorter educational roots, should make himself comfortable.
Tonight’s winner could even double park.
This District 1 seat and three others will be on the auction block again in November.
This is why especially Mr. McKenna’s backers were anxious to avoid election details after Ms. LaMotte died last Dec. 5. They wanted the popular retired administrator appointed outright.
A race that once seemed lopsided, no longer is, apparently.
Meanwhile, Mr. McKenna will greet well-wishers tonight at his headquarters, at 3818½ Crenshaw Blvd., after the polls close.
Mr. Johnson’s victory celebration will be in the African American Museum in Exposition Park.
As Decision Day arrived, Fred MacFarlane, Johnson campaign consultant, says:
NBC4 “News Conference” with Conan Nolan aired a candidate discussion Sunday that comes closest to a candidate debate in the runoff for LAUSD District 1.
Note: There have been no community organization-sponsored candidate debates or forums since the primary election.
You might want to let your readers know they can view segments of “News Conference,” hosted by news reporter Conan Nolan, on NBC4’s website. You can also embed the video segments on The Front Page Online.
[img]2335|right|George McKenna||no_popup[/img]From the other side, Mr. McKenna, who finished second in fundraising, says:
What an amazing journey this has been.
As Election Day arrives across LAUSD, teachers, administrators and support staff are ready for the first day of school, which also is today.
Our teachers, whether veteran educators or facing students on their own for the first time, have chosen to pursue our country’s most honorable and important profession. They deserve our applause.
With your vote today, you get a chance to decide the fate of our children’s future. (Find your polling location)
If you believe our teachers, administrators and support staff, and the young minds and parents who rely upon them, deserve a School Board member who understands the challenge of urban education from the classroom to the boardroom, I am the only candidate with that experience. (My biography)
If you believe they deserve a School Board member not focused on using the seat as a stepping-stone for another political office, but rather on eliminating the concept of a dropout, integrating parents into the school environment, and emancipating our children’s lives and communities, I am the only candidate with that agenda.
If you believe they deserve a School Board member who comes into office not backed by a political sponsor, billionaires, and special interest groups with profit-driven motives, but rather on the shoulders of educators and the community of District 1, I am the only candidate with that support. (View endorsements)
If you believe they deserve a School Board member who has a demonstrated life-long commitment to improving the educational outcomes of all children, I am the only candidate who has lived that life.
This has been the cause I dedicated my life to decades ago.
